Zoom Talk – ONLINE ONLY – The Dover Patrol by Robin Broadhurst
Given the surge of the Omicron strain we have taken the decision to hold the January meeting on-line rather than gather at Cobham. Peter Hart prefers face-to-face meetings so we have rescheduled his talk on the Butte de Warlencourt until a later date.
We are delighted that Robin Broadhurst has kindly agreed to fill the slot and add to our knowledge about an area of WW1 history that many will know little about.
The Dover Patrol is an unsung story. Set up early in the Great War, it was commanded by three men of wholly differing personalities. It almost never had modern ships and contained few professional Royal Naval officers or senior rates, being instead composed of what the Army called ‘the ash and trash, the jerks and clerks.’
Based in Dover and Dunkirk it was tasked with denying the German navy access to the English Channel. The patrol forced German U-boats to travel to the Atlantic around Scotland. This reduced the amount of time they could harass allied shipping and protected the cross-channel shipping lanes carrying men and materials to the front and transporting the wounded enroute to UK hospitals.
The talk aims to fill that gap in knowledge by examining what they did, who commanded them and whether they were successful.
About the speaker: Robin Brodhurst was educated at Marlborough College and RMA Sandhurst, before being commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets, serving in Cyprus, Gibraltar, Belize and throughout the UK, including two tours in Northern Ireland. On leaving the Army he read History at Goldsmiths’ College, London University and completed a PGCE at Selwyn College, Cambridge, before teaching at Berkhamstead School, Ampleforth College, and Pangbourne College, where he was Head of History for 22 years.
A keen naval historian he published a biography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound – Churchill’s Anchor – in 2000, and edited The Bramall Papers in 2017. He lectures and reviews widely, often for the WFA, is a member of the BCMH, and was Hon. Secretary of the Navy Records Society for 12 years. He has just completed editing a collection of letters between his grandfather and Sir Donald Bradman, which is due to be published in February.
This online talk is open to all. You do not have to be a member of the Western Front Association to join this online meeting. Details of how to join the meeting using Zoom are in Andy Thompson’s January Update email sent out to everyone on our email list. If you don’t receive Andy’s emails contact him at andy.ewt@gmail.com.
Robin’s talk starts at 8.00 pm but you can join the Zoom meeting at any time after 7.30 pm to chat to other attendees or to just listen in.
Please note this talk is online only. Please do not go to the Cobham Day Centre.
The photo shows Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon commander of the Dover Patrol from April, 1915 until January, 1918